All Blog Posts (3,198)

A pendulum swings to the extreme far right and to the extreme far left, and in the fire service, as in politics, common sense is somewhere in the middle. Unfortunately there is so much divisive chatter going on that it feels as if common sense is an ugly four-armed green-headed alien stepchild. Quiet the chatter and do what's right... my guess is you instinctively…

Note: This is the second in a planned series of blogs using the "tools in the toolbox” model to explore the many facets of the profound changes inspired by ongoing fire dynamics research.  As discussed in my first post in this format, I am a big fan of viewing MFA tactics as additional “options” to use for controlling fires in structures.  Besides being non-threatening and accurate, it allows me to break down the various components into more manageable, blog-sized,…

 PLAYING DRESS UP

While participating in a leadership open forum recently, a fellow panel member told the story of a seminar speaker who engaged him about the responsibilities of his job. After rejecting everything that my friend described as his job as being secondary, the speaker told him that his one job, his sole purpose, was to make the Fire Chief of his department look…

Note: With the dawn of a new year, I'm determined to become a better blogger.  The Modern Fire Attack series has been running as a self-posted blog for about a year and a half now, and I have simultaneously, though less often, been submitting more general fire service articles under the title of my old column "From the Jumpseat".  Other than the topics, the size of the two (and the effort I put in to them) are roughly the same.  Having long ago begun writing for emergency…

When conducting a primary search, the Officer must take several things into consideration very quickly:

• Size Up
• Building occupancy
• Fire location
• Search Priorities
• Search type

Size Up

While en-route to the call you need to monitor the radio. Listen to where the fire is located.  Know the type of structure and occupancy you are responding too. As you arrive on the scene, look at as many sides of the building…

Over $2,500 in cash and prizes will be given away to Firefighters, EMTs and Medics! 

YOU can Win and more importantly Motivate Others!  

Don't wait, get your program and get started today!

The purpose of the contest is to motivate Firefighters, EMTs and Medics to change the…

For as long as I can remember I have heard people say, as a person in a leadership position you are not supposed to play favorites. That by doing this it causes distrust and damages your credibility. Not only that, it is an unfair way to lead. I will agree to an extent. I think there is a fine line we have to walk when it comes to playing favorites with the firefighters in our stations.

So, do I play favorites? I sure do! My favorites are the ones that…

We were doing truck checks this past Tuesday like we always do. This is the day that we do the bay floors, check our saws, tune everything up, run all fans, extrication tools, and all that good stuff. I was on Engine 1 for the tour and we had already ran all of our equipment and before I went over to ask the Heavy Rescue or Ladder dudes what they had left to run I checked my nozzles. It’s not uncommon for me to walk around each shift and check the nozzles and hose loads from previous shifts…

Do you have the capability to listen to the police on your radios? You can glean crucial information from the police. Have you ever been dispatched on a call for a sick person that ended up to be a person that is having a mental crisis and ultimately required police intervention?  There are times we are dispatched to assist the police, but you are giving very limited information. By monitoring the police channel you can get the missing information. There are call that may require the fire…

You Can Make a Dent

Joseph Kitchen, Bath Twp. Fire Department (Lima, Ohio)

            Have you ever felt as if your department was so broken that its problems could not be fixed? Or, have you ever felt like there were so many issues with the fire service in general, that nothing you…

I want to talk about…. what is brotherhood?  Plain and simple. Brotherhood is treating others like family. In a family, sometimes you're there to prepare people and make them better. Sometimes you've got to be hard on them. Sometimes you just need to be there for them. I think a lot of that gets lost. Sometimes people think it's not their job. We're just co-workers and I think that's the wrong attitude because not everyone grows up the same.

Some of you…

The dispatch speakers in the fire house have a volume control. All the speakers in the fire house should be set at a level that they can be heard at all times. Giving the excuse, “if they need us they will dispatch us” is a lazy excuse. Situational awareness applies to all and it is important to know what is going on in the county at all times. Major incidents that you are not due on may impact the next call you are due on. Aggressive companies will know if they are next up if a fire…

Firefighters represent a lot of things in the public imagination.  Words like “courage,” “selflessness,” “integrity” and “reliability” spring to mind.  But there is a darker side to fire culture as well - a system of thought that can sometimes shatter families and lead promising firefighters to an early grave. 

 …

As 2016 winds down, it is time to think forward to 2017. Most make resolutions that they never follow through with. To my fire service brothers/sisters I want to challenge you, make a resolution that will strengthen you, your shifts and the fire service in general. Keep your fire service resolutions for the entire year. Don’t give up 2 months in. Remember complacency kills. Below are some ideas, but please feel free to come up with your own:

• Train every…

This year has certainly been interesting related to the legal issues facing the fire service. We continue to see the fire departments in the news for many high profile fires, rescues, service calls and the other good things we do on a daily basis.

Interestingly enough, in spite of the fact there has been a plethora of information from your favorite fire service attorneys (Murphy, Varone, Comstock and Pinsky) in…

Not to be overly dramatic, but to me, fire attack is combat.  Not much different than any other type of fight.  My intention is to present an overwhelming force that ends the fight quickly and in my favor.  This isn’t to be confused with fighting sports.  In the sporting environment, it’s often my turn, your turn, then my turn, and so on.  As my favorite defensive instructor says, “In a real fight, it’s my turn, my turn and my turn.”  The enemy never gets a chance beyond the ambush!  Also,…

I’m going to try something different, instead of sitting at the kitchen table in the fire house let’s pull up the chair that sits vacant most nights but is where your presence is most requested…our dining room tables.

There are few professions…

If you are unsure of who Lt. General Hal Moore is I would encourage you to research one of the most decorated war time heroes in modern history.  In fact, General Norman Schwarzkopf, who was a student of Lt. General Hal Moore at West Point, calls him one of his “heroes.” General Moore was born in Bardstown, Kentucky; a small town of 11,700 people, per the 2010 census records. How does a small-town gentleman rise to be one of the most decorated military figures in history? I believe he lived…